Police

News about Police, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 31, 2015

Arizona Gov Doug Ducey vetoes bill that would have stopped law enforcement agencies from releasing names of police officers involved in serious or fatal shootings for 60 days; Ducey expresses understanding of bill's intent to protect police officers but says it could limit transparency and increase public's distrust of law enforcement. MORE

Mar. 26, 2015

Editorial examines Justice Dept report on Philadelphia's troubled police department, noting particularly worrisome conclusions about its lethal force policies; says report points up virtues of Justice Dept's police reform program, but also indicates stiff challenges ahead in Philadelphia, where police will have to rebuild policies from the ground up. MORE

Mar. 21, 2015

Two passengers are killed in wrong-way collision when car carrying four men, including three off-duty police officers from Linden, NJ, strikes tractor-trailer on Staten Island's West Shore Expressway; car was traveling north in southbound lane after leaving strip club in early morning hours, and investigators are probing whether alcohol played a role in crash. MORE

Mar. 20, 2015

News Analysis; some Midwestern states are rolling back collective bargaining rights for government workers, including pensions and health coverage, but excluding police and firefighters; labor experts say exemptions have no substantive merit, as other public workers have much more dangerous jobs. MORE

Mar. 16, 2015

Police departments across country are adopting so-called StingRay device, which allows them to track and listen in on cellphones, but technology has come with unusual nondisclosure requirement; FBI officials have warned that any discussion of StingRay could allow criminals and terrorists to circumvent it; issue has elevated stakes in heated debate about privacy and public disclosure of government practices. MORE

Mar. 8, 2015

Daily life of Maj Mohammad Qasim of Afghan National Police in Baraki Barak district of Afghanistan shows how country's police forces are crucial to both fighting Taliban and maintaining some semblance of order in bid to retain people's loyalty to government. MORE

Mar. 7, 2015

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column faults Congress for pressuring Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to cease trying to ban body armor-piercing bullets known as 'cop-killing bullets'; accuses Congress of reactionary behavior and bowing to National Rifle Association in opposing sensible measure that could save lives of policemen. MORE

Mar. 5, 2015

Justice Dept report contends Ferguson, Mo, behaves less like municipality and more like self-sustaining business operation, getting money by accusing poor blacks of crimes and then using revenue from from fines as revenue to feed city's budget; federal investigators cite many examples of arrests of blacks without apparent justification. MORE

Mar. 2, 2015

Justice Department prepares to release highly critical report accusing Ferguson, Mo, police department of discriminatory policing culture that created deep racial animosity in years leading up to shooting death of Michael Brown; report finds that city disproportionately ticketed and arrested African Americans, using fines to balance its budget; findngs will force officials to either negotiate settlement or face civil rights charges. MORE

Mar. 2, 2015

Deaths of six Afghan policewomen in 2013 highlights dangers and difficulties faced by female officers, and Afghan women in general, amid Western efforts to elevate their status; push to engineer gender equality following occupation of Afghanistan has often foundered, despite influx of money and programs, against deeply embedded culture of repression; remains unclear whether Western sense of equality will survive withdrawal of troops and money (Series: Women's War). MORE

Feb. 26, 2015

Residents and small business owners in Midtown area of Detroit, area that has undergone striking economic revival, say much of credit for local renaissance belongs to police department at nearby Wayne State University; officers are all commissioned by Detroit Police Dept, and have helped reduced petty crime, serious impediment for small businesses, which are among biggest casualties of city's decline. MORE

Feb. 22, 2015

Vocations column features interview with Jinho Ferreira, sheriff’s deputy and performer in Alameda County, Calif. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

FBI Director James B Comey, speaking at Georgetown University, uses unusually candid language to characterize racial views of police officers who work in neighborhoods where African-Americans commit high rate of crime; says racial discrimination becomes an irresistible mental shortcut for such officers; comments are aimed at achieving fresh dialogue on police bias in the wake of deaths of unarmed blacks like Michael Brown. MORE

Feb. 12, 2015

Federal Bureau of Investigation Dir James B Comey will give speech at Georgetown University addressing relations between police officers and African-Americans; will be first time an FBI director has publicly discussed race issue at length. MORE

Feb. 3, 2015

Missouri Highway Patrol turns down request for state troopers to help police in downtown St Louis respond to spike in violent crime, citing lack of funding. MORE

Jan. 29, 2015

National Sheriffs' Assn adds complaint to law enforcement campaign against Google's Waze traffic app that it puts officers' lives at risk by alerting users to their location; law enforcement officials had previously said app also interferes with efficacy of speed traps, which they say have reduced deaths on highways. MORE

Jan. 22, 2015

Chinese Communist Party orders end to arrest and conviction goals for police and prosecutors, in effort to reduce levels of wrongful convictions; pressure to meet quotas has led to 99.9 percent conviction rate in criminal trials and widespread abuse of justice. MORE

Jan. 19, 2015

Several members of Congressional Black Caucus, during visit to Wellspring United Methodist Church in Ferguson, Mo, on Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend, draw comparisons between protests after fatal shooting of Michael Brown and civil rights battle led by King in 1960s; caucus members also announce that group is seeking to help pass bill that would support Pres Obama's plan to outfit police officers with body cameras. MORE

Jan. 18, 2015

First column by Nick Pinto examines how principles for policing outlined in London in early 19th century by Sir Robert Peel continue to influence police forces today, including the New York Police Dept; notes that, at their root, protests about police misconduct in New York City and elsewhere underscore fact that policing based on Peel's ideas is dependent on specific definition of public in which many people feel they are not included. MORE

Jan. 17, 2015

Pres Obama, responding in part to racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo, signs executive order that calls for more oversight of federal programs that provide military gear to local police departments. MORE

Jan. 16, 2015

Atty Gen Eric H Holder Jr calls for better systems to track number of times police officers across country are fired at or fire their weapons; says better data would help to quantify number of injuries and deaths that occur at hands of police officers, as well as attacks on police, in effort to help restore trust between law enforcement and American public. MORE

Jan. 9, 2015

Veterans Wayne R Cubs and John Robbins file separate lawsuits against town of Rutherford, NJ, alleging discrimination and favoritism in passing them over for police force; town's municipal government is accused of being rife with nepotism, and of history of discrimination against veterans. MORE

Jan. 7, 2015

Federal Judge Carol E Jackson in St Louis grants 45-day extension to order she issued in December that bars police from using tear gas unless they give warning, giving peaceful demonstrators time to disperse in order to minimize effect of tear gas. MORE

Jan. 5, 2015

Michael Wilson Crime Scene column; thousands of out-of-town law enforcement officers join fellow New York City officers in show of respect and solidarity at funeral for slain Police Officer Wenjian Liu. MORE

Jan. 4, 2015

Ross Douthat Op-Ed column offers list of predictions he made in 2014 that turned out to be wrong, including his thoughts on 2016 presidential candidacy of Jeb Bush, demilitarization of American police and efficacy of how America handled Ebola crisis domestically. MORE

Jan. 2, 2015

Peachtree City, Ga, Police Chief William E McCollom is on administrative leave after shooting and critically wounding his wife Margaret in what he says was an accident. MORE

Dec. 27, 2014

Albuquerque police officials say their policy for use of body cameras on officers is too difficult to follow and that new policy will be put in place in 2015; existing policy requires officers to record interactions with public in their entirety. MORE

Dec. 16, 2014

Supreme Court rules in 8-1 decision that police officer can stop a car based on a mistaken understanding of the law without violating the Fourth Amendment; case arose from traffic stop in North Carolina based on broken brake light. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

Iraqi police in Nineveh Province find themselves largely abandoned in fighting Islamic State militants because Shiite-led government is fearful region's police officers, who are primarily Sunni, will sell weapons to jihadists or, worse, join them. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

Human Rights Watch issues report that reignites debate over practice in Indonesia in which women who wish to become part of police force are subjected to virginity testing to determine their morality. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson objects to blistering Justice Dept report that found city's police department is riddled with problems, including frequent use of excessive force. MORE

Dec. 11, 2014

Shared website for Oakland, Calif, and its police department is hacked; group Anonymous says it attacked site in protest over police actions against protesters. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

David Brooks Op-Ed column addresses public outrage over deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at hands of police; argues while nothing excuses racist police brutality, not enough attention is being paid to the emotional and psychological challenges of being a police officer; examines dangers and extremely difficult choices faced by police on a daily basis. MORE

Dec. 8, 2014

One of biggest unresolved problems in Ferguson, Mo, is deep suspicion, anger and mistrust that separate its mostly black population from its almost entirely white police force; problem is one that police departments across the country are confronting in midst of anguished national debate over whether police too often use deadly force against minorities. MORE

Dec. 7, 2014

Unidentified man holding pocketknife is shot and killed by Los Angeles police officers during confrontation in Hollywood’s tourist district; shooting occurs amid heightened scrutiny of police across the country following decisions of grand juries in Ferguson, Mo, and Staten Island not to indict officers involved in fatal encounters with racial dimensions. MORE

Dec. 3, 2014

Loretta E Lynch, top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn who is awaiting hearing on her nomination to be next attorney general, has made past remarks about 'broken trust' between African-Americans and law enforcement; her comments could put her at odds with some law enforcement groups, who say Obama administration has unfairly cast police in bad light after Ferguson, Mo, police shooting. MORE

Dec. 2, 2014

Obama administration will tighten standards on provision of military-style equipment to law enforcement departments across nation and on training for use of such gear; move is part of effort to channel anger over fatal police shooting of black teenager Michael Brown into national debate aimed at rebuilding trust between public and police. MORE

Dec. 1, 2014

Police departments nationwide have begun carrying naloxone, medication that reverses effects of heroin or opioid painkiller overdose, but soaring prices are raising alarm about future of distribution programs. MORE

Nov. 30, 2014

Jordan’s Royal Desert Forces, descended from a camel corps founded in 1920s, still use camels for transportation while patrolling sparsely populated desert areas of the country; many members of this 4,000-man-strong branch of national police force hail from Jordan's Bedouin tribes, key Arab ally of the United States, despite turmoil roiling its neighbors. MORE

Nov. 27, 2014

Law enforcement experts weigh in on evidence made public in case of shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo; some feel that police officer Darren Wilson acted within bounds of standard police protocol and that he made only viable choice; others say incident raises broader national policy questions about how officers engage with communities they patrol and potential for racial bias in policing. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Case of Phillip Merling, former Miami Dolphins defensive end who was arrested on domestic abuse charges in 2010, illustrates how special relationship between NFL teams and local law enforcement can lead to special treatment; Merling was allowed to leave jail through private exit and was escorted out by police commander who worked side jobs for Dolphins; issue has taken on new prominence amid scrutiny of NFL's treatment of players involved in domestic violence cases (Series: Nowhere to Turn). MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

New York Times reporter Andy Newman tests a radar gun, similar to those used by police to measure speeding vehicles, in Brooklyn's Prospect Park; outing proves what any traffic-ticket lawyer would say--there are many factors that can affect accuracy of radar technology. MORE

Nov. 13, 2014

New Orleans Inspector Gen Edouard R Quatrevaux releases audit of city's police department revealing 'persistent, systemic' management failure that allowed five detectives tasked with investigating sex crimes to ignore hundreds of reported cases; investigation found records of follow-up efforts in only 14 percent of such calls over three years. MORE

Nov. 10, 2014

Civil asset forfeiture allows government, without a conviction or even a criminal charge, to seize property that is itself possibly tied to criminal activity; practice has come under fire from civil rights activists and members of Congress, but forfeiture operations are being established or expanded across the nation despite opposition; continuing education seminars on process, aimed at local prosecutors and police, are flourishing. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he is standing behind Police Chief Edward Flynn; police officers angered by the firing of Officer Christopher Manney, who shot and killed vagrant Dontre Hamilton in a park, took a vote expressing lack of confidence in their chief. MORE

Oct. 31, 2014

Dan Barry This Land column notes that in eleven weeks since Ferguson, Mo, Police Department became a flash point in wake of a white officer shooting to death an unarmed black teenager, anxiety there is escalating again as grand jury decision in case becomes imminent; says regardless of outcome, police are preparing for a return for the violent protests, as well as an unforgiving spotlight on the department. MORE

Oct. 27, 2014

Young Ecuadorean woman becomes second fatality from a collision involving a Palestinian driver in Jerusalem who plowed into a group of pedestrians in what officials say was purposeful attack; she dies hours after Israeli Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu announces major increase in Jerusalem's police force to quell violence. MORE

Oct. 25, 2014

British news reports say Scotland Yard will pay woman who had a romantic relationship, and a child, with an undercover police officer who had been sent to spy on her and never revealed his real identity or fact he was married; police will pay out equivalent of about $680,000, as part of a settlement to head off a formal lawsuit; payment is first of its kind in Scotland Yard's history. MORE

Oct. 18, 2014

Video that was shot for a pinup calendar featuring bikini-clad women firing high-powered weapons while riding in tanks has raised the ire of Utah National Guard and Utah Department of Public Safety, which say some of their equipment and officers may be in film. MORE

Egyptian prosecutors are bringing criminal charges against witnesses who said they saw the police kill an unarmed poet and activist during a demonstration, a lawyer who has seen the charges said on Monday.